Refrigerating cabinet



Jan. 14, 1936. w. P. J. SPEICHER REFRIGERATING CABINET Filed oct. 51, 1935 Patented `lan. 14, i936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATIN G CABINET Application October 31, 1933, Serial No. 695,982

' 2 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets.

Motor trucks and other vehicles are frequently provided with mechanical refrigerating systems for cooling cabinets or insulated compartments on the vehicle in order to permit the transportation of perishable goods over long distances. The constructions heretofore employed however are objectionable in that the cooling unit has been permanently incorporated in the body, making it necessary to dismantle a considerable portion of the body in order to gain access to the unit for purposes of cleaning or repair. It is also the common practice to provide cooling units or evaporators having pipes or fins projecting into the cooling compartment. This arrangement is undesirable as the evaporators interfere with the cleaning of the compartment, reduce the available storage space therein, and are likely to be damaged in use.

An object of my invention is to provide a vehicle body having a refrigerator cabinet for the purpose of transporting perishable goods wherein the cooling unit is arranged on the lining of the cabinet which lining and unit may be removed bodily from the cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a motor truck body embodying my invention, and

Fig, 2 is a perspective view of the bodyshown in Fig. 1 with the upper wall removed and with the cooling unit raised from its position within the body.

Referring to Fig. 1 I have shown a truck body comprising a thermally insulated chamber having side walls I 0, a bottom wall I I, and a `removable top Wall I2 and supported on a base frame I3. At the ends of the truck body adjacent the insulated chamber are front and rear compartments I4 and I5 respectively. 'I'he front compartment is provided to house a compression refrigerating machine, access to the refrigerating machine being had through a door I6. The rear compartment is provided for storing empty icef cream containersand the like. The insulated chamber is provided with a liner I'I comprising a sheet metal shell Ila lining the chamber formed by the wa1lsI0,II, and I2 and having a sinuous refrigerating conduit I8 secured on the front and top portions thereof. Refrlgerant is circulated through the conduit I8 by the refrigerating machine within the compartment I4. I prefer to construct the greater portion of the shell IIa of a metal such as steel to provide the necessary strength, and to construct the portion on which the evaporator' conduit is secured of a metal of high thermal conductivity such as copper, in order that heat may be quickly absorbed from the chamber to be cooled. In the construction shown the front end wall and the top wall of the liner are made of copper sheeting and the remaining walls of sheet steel. The interior of the liner II and hence the cooling chamber is completely free of projections since the refrigerating conduit I8 is secured on the outer side thereof. For this reason there are no projections which may interfere with the cleaning of l the interior of the refrigerated compartment or which will interfere with the arrangement of articles stored therein.

It may be desirable to remove the liner from the truck body for purposes of cleaning or repair, and in accordance with my invention I arrange one wall of the truck body so that it may be readily removed to permit access to the cooling chamber, and I also arrange the liner so that it may readily be removed bodily from the chamber after disconnecting the evaporator conduit from the refrigerating machine. $0

In the embodiment vshown inFig. 1, the top I2 is provided with an upper shell I9 which completely covers the top of the truck body and to which the insulated Wall I2 is secured in position over the refrigerator compartment. 'I'he shell I9 is secured to the truck body by screws or other readily removable fasteners and may easily be removed from the truck. In order that the evaporator conduit I8 may quickly be disconnected from the refrigerating machine within the compartment I4, I provide unions 2U connecting ends 42l of the conduit I8 and refrigerant supply and suction conduits 22 which are connected with the refrigerating machine. I also provide lifting straps 23 which surround and are welded or otherwise secured to the liner I1 and which may be 'employed as shown in Fig. 2 to lift the liner bodily from its compartment on the truck. Rods 24 having a cable 25 secured thereto are 50 inserted vin the looped ends 23a of the carrier straps 23, and the liner can then be lifted as by a crane hook 26. An opening 21 in the walls of the liner shell Ila registers with a door 28 in the side walls I0 of the truck body and provides access 55 to the cooling chamber for loading and unloading the truck.

When the truck body is being assembled, the connections 2 I of the evaporator are bent upward as shown in Fig. 2, vand the liner I 'I is lowered into its compartment in the truck body. Connections 2| are then bent over and inserted through the forward wall I0, and the unions 20 are connected to the conduits 22 within the compartment Il. The cable 25 is then removed together with the rods 24, the ends 23a .of the straps 23 are bent down against the top of the liner I "I, the upper wall I2 is lowered over the truck body, and plate I9 is securedgto the truck body to complete the assembly.

From the foregoing it is evident that I have provided a simple and easily assembled refrigerator compartment particularly adaptable to vehicle bodies, which provides for ready removal of the liner and evaporator for purposes of cleaning and repair.

While I have shown and described my invention in connection with a, self-propelled vehicle having a refrigerating machine thereon, other applications will be readily apparent, and I do not desire my invention to be limited to the construction shown and described, and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modiiications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

ouais What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a vehicle body including a refrigerator cabinet having a chamberl to be cooled, a metal shell conforming to the walls of said chamber and having one portion formed of a metal of high thermal conductivity and the remaining portion formed of a metal having a high tensile strength, an evaporator comprising a refrigerant conduit securedto the portion of said shell having high thermal conductivity, one oi the walls of said cabinet being removable therefrom, and said metal shell and said evaporator being removable bodily from said chamber.

2. In a vehicle body including a refrigerator cabinet having a chamber to be cooled, a metal shell conforming to the walls of said chamber and having one portion formed of a metal of high thermal conductivity and the remaining portion formed of a metal having a high tensile strength, an evaporator comprising a refrigerant conduit secured to the portion of said shell having high thermal conductivity, one of the walls of said cabinet being removable therefrom, said metal shell and said evaporator being removable bodily from said chamber, and lifting straps secured about said metal shell.

WILLIAM P. J. SPEICHER. 

